Choices
by aslycsi1315
Summary: After Callen shoots the Chameleon, Deeks contemplates resigning from LAPD.
1. Chapter 1

**May 15, 2012**

He's afraid to do it.

Every night for the past two years, LAPD Detective Marty Deeks has been afraid to do one simple task.

Leave LAPD.

It's a simple thing that's been eating at him since he joined the NCIS squad of Special Agents G Callen, Sam Hanna, and Kensi Blye two years ago. Things had gone normally until Operation Manager Henrietta Lange had asked him to sign a NCIS applicant document six months after his first day.

He had told Hetty, "I don't think this is the right time," and one year later, the folder sits on his nightstand next to a pen, waiting-_no, _begging to be signed. Deeks is sure that Kensi has been wanting him to fully join NCIS for a while, and Callen and Sam…well, he'll never know for sure what they truly think. He had thought in the past that he could bury it until a later time, but now things have changed.

_Seriously changed. _

The past 24 hours have been a living hell. Eardrum shattering explosions, two NCIS agents murdered, Hetty's retirement, and now the lead member-Callen- sitting in a jail cell- no, _a living hell_ doesn't seem to come close to covering it. If Marty Deeks had known the previous morning that all hell was about to break lose, he would have stayed in bed and never left the house.

Now, the shaggy haired detective sits on the deck of the Santa Monica pier with his mutt Monty sleeping on one side and his charcoal colored backpack on his right. It's cool for a May evening in Los Angeles, causing the residents and tourists to hide in their homes. The 40 degree air feel like nothing against Deeks' face as it continuously gusts past him and his sleeping canine.

No one seems to notice the detective as he sits and stares into the Pacific Ocean, lost in the mental battle over whether now is the time to leave LAPD. With a team member down, their OPS manager retiring, and the LA office being investigated by Owen Granger and Leon Vance means that this elite team needs to be at their prime.

Deeks knows that he is woefully behind Kensi, Sam, and Callen.

And if he wants to help, LAPD detective Marty Deeks needs to make some changes.

The detective shivers for a moment, snapping back into reality. His fingers are tingling so he stuffs them back into his pocket. His ears are burning and he covers them with his dark green hood. Monty is whimpering so he pulls the dog into his lap. None of these actions make him feel any better.

The detective dives back into the mental battle, ready and determined to figure this out.

First thing first- what will happen if NCIS Liaison doesn't leave LAPD ?

If the team is broken up because of Callen's actions, there is a high chance that he'll be fired. He can hear already hear it .- _Detective Deeks, we will no longer need your services at NCIS._

Without being at NCIS, Deeks will have to return to LAPD full time. Instead of catching terrorists blowing things up, it'll be druggies, thieves, and hookers all day. There would be no more catching the most dangerous, out of control criminals to come to the west coast. He won't get to yell out, "Federal agents!" It's one of the favorite things he gets to do at NCIS, regardless of being an agent or not.

If he's full time at LAPD with his record of angering every cop there, he will have no allies.

None.

At NCIS, he has an entire family of people that he trusts dearly.

Deeks knows that Callen, Kensi, Eric, Nell, Hetty, and deep, deep down- Sam will always treat and care for him as family if he were to be fired, but it wouldn't be the same as being at NCIS. Deeks knows that he'd lose contact with them within six months as they'd drift apart with their job schedules. He would have to eat donuts with some _other_ partner, who wouldn't be Kensi. Nothing can replace watching Miss Kensi Blye inhale a box of donuts. The detective's mornings would be empty-there'd be no flirting with Kensi, walking into teasing from Sam or Callen, or even talking video games and surfing with Eric.

By now, Deeks believes that he is developing frostbite, even though he sitting in above freezing weather on the West Coast. In the middle of a shiver, Deeks suddenly remembers a possible positive if he were just LAPD.

He could have Kensi.

If Marty Deeks was just a detective, he could have Special Agent Kensi Blye. However, It would be complicated, extremely complicated with her running off to save the world with super deep ops and him getting down with….junkies. Settling down would be way out of the question if Deeks is on every drug dealer and gang members' radar from Washington to Nevada. He'd always be the weaker one; although, he isn't sure if that would be different if he joined NCIS.

"Crap," Deeks mutters. Deep down, he knows that dating Kensi while being just a cop can't be considered a bright side if he were to be fired from NCIS. Then again, this is only _if _he were to be fired. Maybe things will work out and Callen won't be charged in murdering a crazed, bomb happy, lunatic who'd just killed two NCIS agents.

_Why the hell can't I just resign from LAPD? _It's the question that's been playing in his head for over a year. Although he has constantly reminded his partner and others that he's a cop, NCIS had always come first in his mind of where he belongs. The detective doesn't know why he won't cop to the truth that home is NCIS. Maybe it's because he's frightened of making the change.

Maybe it's because being a cop was his childhood dream.

Or maybe deep, deep down- he doesn't want it.

Or maybe, he's afraid that they won't let him in.

"Arf?" Monty looks up to his master with alert, wide eyes. Deeks narrows his eyes in confusion before he realizes that Monty has once again heard his phone before he did.

"How you do that, I'll never know, buddy," Deeks laughs. He glances over to the screen, which flashes a simple, short sentence. _Team Meeting.- Kensi._

The detective lets out a loud sigh because he knows he won't be able to focus. He desperately wants to sit outside in the cold for a few more hours and really figure things out, but he can't.

All hell has just broken loose and his team needs him.


	2. Chapter 2

The meeting is a few blocks away at Venice Pier.

Deeks pulls up into the parking lot, gives Monty a treat and an order to "guard the car" and then treks down to the end of the pier where he sees Sam, Kensi, and much to the detective's distaste, Granger. Deeks slows his pace when he's a few meters away; he tries to be quiet, but fails when he accidently hits his foot on a nearby bench. He tries to play it off as nothing, but Granger just rolls his eyes at him.

The assistant director is wearing a light brown jacket and jeans. It's an odd sight to Deeks to see the man who's usually uptight and miserable to be in such casual clothing. Deeks is pulled away from Granger's appearance when Sam asks Granger, "You finally planning on telling us why we're here?"

"Ok. We all know that the CIA, DOD- pretty much everyone is putting us under the microscope because of Agent Callen's actions," Granger starts off. He pauses, which makes Deeks flinch. The detective doesn't like Granger's tone; to him, it's like the Assistant Director is enjoying that everything is going to hell.

"You breaking us up?" Sam asks in a quick, harsh tone. Deeks reminds himself to thank the ex-SEAL for his attitude later.

"No, I'm not," Granger snaps with a scowl, "Believe it or not, Agent Hanna, I like this team. You guys get the job done. Unfortunately, the Director doesn't care about the results, he cares about what happened yesterday-"

"You mean the exchange that you set up? Really? You're blaming us for that?" Kensi exclaims. Deeks puts a hand in front of his partner to prevent her for lunging after Granger. "And on top of that, your stupid plan failed!"

"I made a decision- _an executive decision. _Agent Callen shouldn't have gotten so damn trigger happy."

"Well, he did lose two allies in one day," Kensi snapped at Granger, "and the man was going to walk off scott free where he probably would have killed again and again." Deeks smiles at his partner's tenacity; however, his thoughts quickly travel back to his possible resignation and it hits him that he wouldn't want to miss a single day without Kensi's wit.

"Enough!" Granger roars and it silences the team. Deeks quiets only because he has an impending yawn coming and he doesn't want it to come out at the wrong timing.

"As I was saying," Granger pauses in annoyance when the detective does let out a loud yawn. He glares at Deeks and then continues, "LAPD also doesn't like how they were kept out of the loop for most of yesterday." Kensi and Sam turn to Deeks, who has froze, eyes wide open.

"I only alert LAPD on cooperative missions. We had this under control," Deeks replies. A sudden ping of annoyance hits him. It's the feeling of…._annoyance? irritability? _ that comes when he actually has to 'liaison' between LAPD and NCIS. The detective momentarily forgets that he's at the pier and realizes that he _truly _hates being that part of his job- he's sick of it.

But is that enough for him to quit? _Of Course._

But if he doesn't quit and NCIS denies him, then what?

Granger walks over to the bench and sits. "Director Vance is pissed. Even though he knows what kind of liaison this team has, he still doesn't like how things were handled. So this office is to be evaluated, effective immediately. Each member of this team will sit down with me and Director Vance next week and discuss his or her impact for this office. In the meanwhile, all operations will be done on a cooperative basis with LAPD's best."

Deeks scowls at Granger. The detective is pretty positive that half of that was being directed towards him. It also shakes his confidence- Deeks is behind Sam, Callen, and Kensi in areas on navy intelligence, international affairs- basically, everything that an office would want in an agent, he doesn't have.

Right now. If he quits and trains in DC, he'll be only…..somewhat behind.

"So we're being baby sat?" Deeks asks when he turns his attention back to the conversation. When Sam raises an eyebrow at him, the detective's pretty sure that he's missed something important when he had spaced out, but doesn't really give a damn.

"Not in those words, I'd say. Think of it as being monitored," Granger replies.

"Yes, because that sounds so much better," Kensi replies sarcastically to his comment. A breeze blows by, causing her bun to fall forward and cover her eyes. "So what happens if as a team we don't pass this 'evaluation'?" The brunette does air quotes around the word _evaluation_.

Granger crosses his arms. "Then this office will be shut down until further notice. Agent Blye, you would be transferred down to San Diego or have an opportunity to work in the CIA. Agent Hanna, you would have the opportunity to train SEALS at Camp Pendleton."

"And me?" Deeks asks with a raised hand.

Granger shrugs his shoulders and gives the detective a confused look. "You'd go back to LAPD, of course."

Deeks has no reason to treat this as an insult, but he does. The detective steps back and lets out a staggered breath. He's down to very little options- if he stays on and the team fails, he'll be sent back to LAPD.

If he fails the individual evaluation, he's off the team and will be sent back to LAPD.

If he passes both the evaluation and the full team evaluation and he pisses of Granger to the point of being fired, he's off the team and will be sent back to LAPD. All three options end in him returning back to LAPD, pretty much under duress.

"Damn it," he gasps. He should have said yes when Hetty asked him to join because now, with everything going on, he may not have the chance to. In a panic, Deeks turns and leaves the group, ignoring his name being called out by Kensi, Sam, and a very annoyed Granger. He's down the steps of the pier and to his car; anxious to talk to the one person he could help him out.

Twenty minutes later, Deeks walks up the steps towards the front door of a large house. To the detective, this person is the only person that can shed some light on what he should do. It's early in the morning and he knows she'll probably yell at him for the early call, but he doesn't care.

This is urgent.

He wraps his knuckles against the door and shivers. A minute or two passes and Hetty opens up the door. The detective can see boxes near the stairwell and in the living room. He has the desire to crack some kind of 'cheeky' comment as Hetty would call it, but it passes almost immediately after it comes.

"Mr. Deeks, why are you here?"

With his hands in his pocket and his body trembling, the detective says, "I need your help."


	3. Chapter 3

"With what can I help you with, Mr. Deeks?"

The detective is quiet, unsure of what to say. On the drive over, he had pictured the retired OPS member calming him down and almost instantly coming up with some brilliant advice to save the day.

"I-uh- screwed up and I need you to help me," Deeks stammers. He's surprised at himself for sounding like a five year old that's about to cry. Of course he isn't actually going to cry, he just feels like his head is going to explode.

"Well, grab Monty from the car and come in. I'll make tea," Hetty says calmly. On any other day, her tone would relax Deeks but right now, it does nothing. With her being retired, an overly relaxed Hetty is actually a bit frightening. Deeks hesitates before whistling for Monty to come from under the car. The mutt casually trots over and follows Hetty into the house as if visiting at 5 in the morning was an everyday affair.

"So how exactly did you screw up?" Hetty calls out from the kitchen. She takes two white tea cups from a locked cabinet and places them on the coffee table in the living room. The table is the only modern item that Deeks has seen her own.

"I should have said yes when you asked me to join NCIS. I think I'm done with being LAPD." Relief passes through the detective. Now that it's out in the open, it feels quite nice.

"I have two questions for you then- one, what made you say no the first time and two, you _think_ you're done?"

Deeks sits on the flower patterned couch, feeling more and more uncomfortable. Hetty gives him the look that he hates; it's the one that says _Spill it now before I have to use other means._

"Ok. I-uh- I've been a cop for a few years now and I loved it," Deeks catches that he used _love_ in the past tense. He pushes past it, "When I met you guys, I felt at home, but I didn't want to let go of being a cop. I mean, right now, I save the country from terrorists _and_ catch the monsters out on the streets- druggies, robbers-"

"Drunks…like your father?" Hetty finishes for him. Deeks bows his head and swallows hard before continuing, "I know this has to be my choice and not be because of what's happened in the last few days. But I- I never forgot about it, Hetty. The application folder has been sitting on my night stand for a year with a pen next to it. I never forgot it."

"If NCIS is home, then what's the problem?"

Deeks inhales with closed eyes before opening them and focusing on Hetty. She's like a mother to him as she knows certain things about him that others will never know. "I'm afraid, Hetty. I'm afraid that I'm not going to be seen as good enough no matter what I do."

Every joke about his ability as a cop and a liaison pops up in his mind, hurting him. The minor pokes are harmless, but the big ones that come from cops that used to be his friends come back and hit him hard. Hetty's now concerned and has a hand on Deeks' arm.

Hetty gasps,"Why on earth would you think that-"

"It just makes sense," Deeks unintentionally cuts her off because he feels like he's two seconds from exploding; "it's a theme in my life you know. I wasn't good enough for my dad, I wasn't good enough for my mom when I got older, I'm not good enough for anyone at LAPD, I'm so freaking behind everyone on the team, I'm not good enough for Ken-"

"That's enough." It's the harshest tone Deeks has ever heard Hetty use. "You are on this team because you are one of the best. You're unique and an essential asset to this team. And for your personal life, you have done wonderful things- pass the Bar exam, make your way through the ranks of LAPD and to NCIS at the speed you did. You are loved by many people, Marty. Don't forget that."

"I-"Deeks is cut off by the shrill sound of the doorbell. Deeks cringes when he remembers that he ran out of an important meeting without a word of explanation. "It's Kensi and Sam. I left a meeting early without explaining where I went."

Hetty smirks and opens the front door. Sam is standing in front of an antsy Kensi.

"Is he here?" Sam asks. Hetty beckons them to the living room. Sam takes off like a bullet and marches into the living room.

"What the hell? You know we've been scouring the city looking for you?" The ex-SEAL yells. He instantly changes expression when Deeks makes no witty remarks as a comeback.

"Shaggy, what's going on?" Sam asks in hope that calling Deeks a nickname might spark some kind of witty mood from the detective.

"Um," Deeks hesitates, unsure of what to say. If he says something about his decision, Kensi and Sam will be on him to join immediately. "It's…nothing. I wanted to just talk with Hetty about what's going on at work. Let's go."

Deeks ignores the irritated expression on Hetty's face and heads towards the door. He has foot out the door before he hears,

"Mr. Deeks came to see me regarding a big decision he plans to make."

_Why?_ Deeks mouths to Hetty and the small woman shrugs her shoulders. "Call it giving you a kick in the pants," she replies.

"What decision?" Kensi asks impatiently. She places her hands on her hips. "Marty?" She almost never calls him that; it's more used when Deeks has pissed her off or when he acts out of behavior. The detective looks down to his feet, over to Hetty, and then to Sam.

The detective takes in a deep breath and finally speaks. "I'm considering resigning from LAPD."

The reaction from his teammates are somewhat as he expected. A slow grin appears on Kensi's face and she lets out a sigh of relief. "It's about time. I was going to give you six months before I was going to force you to join."

Sam for a moment is happy for the detective, but only shows it briefly. A serious expression appears on his face at the realization that this may not be the best timing for this. "Two things: one- are you sure that this is the right time to do it? And two- is this because of the shooting?"

Deeks doesn't process the SEAL's question because he's feeling a massive guilt trip. The excitement in Kensi's eyes show to the detective that she thinks this is a recent decision, not the drawn out decision that it really is. He knows he shouldn't tell her because frankly, he doesn't want to get his ass kicked.

However, a lack of sleep and his worries overtake his brain and he blurts out, "Hetty asked me to join a year ago right before her trip to Romania. At the time…I had said no and I think I'm starting to regret it."


	4. Chapter 4

Marty Deeks isn't sure what he's afraid of at the moment- his job situation or his partner.

Kensi Blye has two hands on her hip and sports a look that says she's livid. Deeks shies away from Kensi and steps behind Sam to hide. The ex-SEAL chuckles and moves over by Hetty.

"You're on your own, Deeks," Sam laughs. Deeks can't even laugh because his partner is slowly yet angrily walking over to him, each step making the detective more and more nervous.

"Explain," Kensi demands. Deeks looks around the room before stammering, " I- um- wait, ok….Hetty gave me the form and I just haven't….been…able to sign it yet."

"Where's the form?"

"In my car. I can't-"

Kensi steps closer to Deeks. " What's so hard about signing the form?"

Before Deeks is given the chance to answer, Hetty steps in for support. "Miss Blye," the ex OPS manager states, "This is a decision that Mr. Deeks has to come to on his own terms and in his own time. You cannot pressure him at all as this decision was and will always be his."

Kensi doesn't even hear Hetty's words. " Don't you like working with us?" she asks- more like _yells, _in Deeks' opinion.

"I do. It's just that-"Deeks look away from Kensi because he feels his heart tearing at Kensi's sad, brown eyes. The detective fights off the urge to kick himself for being a sucker for it. "Kensi, there's a reason that I waited and- I'll tell you when I'm ready, ok?"

Kensi sadly smiles and nods. Sam asks Deeks, " So are you sure about this?"

Deeks nods his head, but can't seem to get any words out. The words _Yes, I am_ can't seem to leave his mouth as thoughts of rejection are leaving the man tongue tied.

"So it's settled for now than," Hetty suddenly exclaims. Her unusually bright tone seems to put a life back into the two agents and detective. "Right now, you three need to worry about Granger and the consequences of Mr. Callen's shooting. I believe he will be released from jail today; Mr. Hanna, you need to keep a close eye on him. You three need to keep this team intact so when Mr. Deeks does decide to leave LAPD, there will be a team for him to go to."

The detective smiles graciously at Hetty, incredibly thankful for her giving him space to breathe. He's even more thankful that he doesn't have to explain his worries to Sam and Kensi. It's not that he doesn't trust them, it's just that it's something he'd rather keep to himself for now. Deeks feels his body relax for a moment before the memory of him ditching Kensi, Sam, and Granger at the pier flashes in his mind.

"Crap….aye... I left in the middle of the team beach powwow- is Granger pissed?" Deeks asks worriedly. He knows that it's a stupid question.

"Yes, which is why we got here so quickly," Kensi explained, " We were actually sent to find you and head to LAPD."

Deeks cocks his head slightly. "LAPD?"

"Well, right before you took off, Granger was getting ready to give us our first case on probation," Sam states, not even trying to show his disgust. "Three arrogant little cops are waiting for us back at LAPD. I think it's a triple homicide or something. "

Hetty looks between the two agent and the detective. When none of the three make a move, the ex-OPS manager points towards the door and says, " Go, all of you. I don't want the three of you to be fired."

"But Hetty-" Kensi whines.

"No, butts. All of you go."

Once they make it to LAPD, Deeks' stomach begins to do backflips.

He hasn't set foot in the building in months; the last time he had walked in was to drop off an evaluation form that till this day he has no idea what it was for. Deeks doesn't even need to pick up his check from the place since pretty much everything gets routed through NCIS. Deeks is also nervous because he has to face many, _many _police officers that hate him with a deep passion.

Deeks follows Kensi and Sam through the double doors that lead to the bullpen. The man hesitates at the sight of his 'desk'- a cubby with a poor excuse for a table. Deeks is actually quite shocked that after two years of little to no use, it's still there.

"I knew there was something wrong with NCIS!" the three team members suddenly hear. It's Detective Greg Reuben, a Homicide detective with a beef against Deeks. Like the many cops who had taken some form of a bribe, Deeks had indirectly destroyed Rueben's career by working with Internal Affairs.

Reuben nudges a cop leaning against a desk and adds, "I had been wondering how the hell Marty Deeks got in and good, honest cops like me couldn't. Now, I know why- they all suck!"

Sam passes by the cop without a word. Deeks tries to pass Rueben, but is stopped when the man steps in front of Deeks and Kensi. Rueben rubs his hands together while smiling maliciously. " How does it feel to come back to where you belong? Wait, you actually belong in a damn kennel-"

"Shut up, Rueben," Deeks growls. He doesn't get the chance to move on before Reuben retaliates, " Aww, don't want to get in a fight in front of your girlfriend?"

Kensi pulls Deeks away. " Ignore him," she tells him. It doesn't help at all. Deeks pushes Kensi's arms and growls at Rueben, " Shut up, Rueben!"

"Come on, Deeks! You wanna go?"

Sam steps in between the two men as Police Chief Mark Hanley looks from his window to see the growing dispute. Sam turns to Deeks and exclaims, "Go walk it off!"

"Better listen to Big Boy over here!" Rueben laughs. He taps Sam's arm, ignoring the homicidal glare coming from the ex-SEAL. Deeks clenches his jaw and looks away, fighting down every nerve to punch Rueben right between the eyes. Kensi is praying that Deeks holds it together before _NCIS liaison beats down homicide detective_ becomes the team's newest problem.

"NCIS! In my office right now!" Police Chief Hanley suddenly yells from his office door. The bullpen instantly quiets and all eyes fall on the three man NCIS squad. Sam curses under his breath before walking towards Hanley's office. Kensi pulls her partner away from Rueben, who is sneering at the two as they leave.

Inside Hanley's office, the team gets a less than warm greeting from Hanley.

"Ten seconds," the Chief mutters in disbelief, " You three walked into my precinct and not even ten seconds pass before you all cause trouble."

Sam explains, "Chief-"

"I don't want to hear it!" roars Hanley. The middle aged man sits down behind his desk, barely fitting in the chair. " I told the Governor that I don't want NCIS and their screwed up team in _my _ precinct. And on top of that, I get Deeks dumped on me."

The detective blinks at his name. He has spaced out for part of the conversation because of the rain. It's pouring heavily from the storm clouds that are slowly covering the Los Angeles area. The patter of rain on the windows is enchanting to the detective and it allows him to cool down for one second.

Only one second.

"Well, sir…I'm not really- WHOA, what do you mean _dumped on you_?" Deeks exclaims once his mind catches up to reality. If that sentence is actually as bad as it sounds, it means that the one thing that he didn't calculate into mix has happened.

"LAPD decided that after next week, we're cutting ties with NCIS," Hanley states in a slightly malicious tone. "Enjoy the big leagues while you can, detective, 'cause your free ride at the top is over starting next week."

At that moment, the detective has had enough.

Deeks pauses for a moment before pulling out his badge and gun. He drops them on the Chief's desk and says, "I quit."


	5. Chapter 5

Marty Deeks is a civilian.

The ex-detective feels empty without his badge and gun. After he had handed them over, the detective had walked out of the station without a word. Now, Deeks is sitting in his car with his hands on the wheel. The application form isn't in his car as he had thought and is actually still on the nightstand at home.

For a brief second, his walkout replays in his head- the bullpen going silent, Sam and Kensi's calls for him to come back- all of it is still fresh in his mind. He's surprised that Kensi and Sam didn't follow him to his car.

"I quit my job," Deeks whispers out loud. Hearing it is shocking and hits him like a ton of bricks. "What the hell do I do now?"

Deeks sits in silence for a minute to mull over his options. He can either go inside and explain himself or do the more obvious thing- sign the application form. Deeks doesn't want to go inside and hear any laughter or mockery of his walkout. He also doesn't want to sit and play the will he-or-won't he game with the application form any longer.

The detective inhales deeply and decides to head home. Before driving out of the parking lot, he takes a minute to check his phone. One text message is on the phone and it's from Kensi.

_-Hanley's pissed, but won't let us leave. What happened? - Kensi._

Deeks quickly types a message before hitting the road.

_-I'm truly done with LAPD, Kensi. I'm going to turn in my application to Granger- wish me luck. - Deeks._

Deeks makes it to his apartment in fifteen minutes and steps out into the cold rain pouring down hard on the city. Halfway through his trip home, heavy rains suddenly appeared, which slowed down his trip. It made him more and more antsy the closer he got home. Now, he's standing in the rain ready to make a big move that he's been contemplating for a year. The man decides to do what he needs to do quickly in the form of the famous, "ripping off the band aid," method.

Soaking wet, Deeks walks into his apartment and towards his bedroom, giving Monty a rub behind the ears on the way. He finds the application folder on his nightstand and opens to the first page. Marty Deeks quickly signs and dates it- _Marty A. Deeks,_ _September 25, 2012. _

"I finally did it," he chuckles to himself. "I finally signed the damn form."

Deeks puts the folder in his bag and turns to see Monty sitting at the doorway with his tail wagging. Deeks drops his shoulders and smiles at the mutt. Monty barks and continues to happily wag his tail as if he were congratulating Deeks.

"I know you're happy, buddy, but I'm not in yet. There's no need to celebrate," The ex-detective mutters. Monty trots over and nudges the edge of the bed, right below where Deeks' keys are.

"I'm going, I'm going…"Deeks kneels next to Monty and gives him a scratch between his ears. "You'll still love me if I don't get into NCIS, right?"

Monty barks and Deeks takes that as a _yes. _"Thanks, Monty."

Twenty minutes later, Deeks walks into the NCIS bullpen. He takes a second to observe the chaos that the shooting had done to the place. LAPD seems to be slowly taking over the OPS center- two rookie cops are laughing over the coffee machine as if it was their own. It makes the ex-detective irritated- the coffee machine with the…..interesting tasting coffee is _NCIS'_ sacred weirdly interesting tasting coffee.

"Deeks!"

The ex-detective turns his attention to Hetty's old desk where Granger is standing, furious. Deeks slowly walks over, quietly panicking. Granger isn't the pain in the ass that Hetty can protect him from anymore, he's the pain in the ass that decides whether he can get a job or not.

"Chief Hanley just gave me a lovely call," Granger growls when Deeks finally reaches his desk.

"Well-"

Granger cuts him off and yells, "You quit?! You just up and quit?"

"If you just-"

"Sit down!" Granger yells, while pointing at the seat in front of Deeks. The ex-detective doesn't sit down; he only holds out the application folder to Granger. The assistant director raises an eyebrow before taking the folder and opening up to the front page.

"I resigned from the LAPD so that I can join NCIS," Deeks states with a touch of pride. The rest of his enthusiasm is being masked by the worry. As Granger looks through his application, Deeks ignores the buzzing from his phone that's in his back pocket that's going off every five minutes. He assumes that Kensi and Sam were released by Hanley and are now looking for him...again.

Granger sighs and closes the folder, "You know Chief Hanley called me to make sure that your resignation wasn't a joke."

"It's not. I want to join NCIS."

"Well, I'll look into it. You need to clean out your desk by the end of the day." Granger places the folder on a large stack of documents as if it was nothing.

"So that's it?" Deeks asks. He expected more than a _We'll see_, but then again it's Granger he's talking to.

"That's it." Granger starts reading a document labeled _Budgets for 2012-2013_ without giving Deeks a wave to leave. The ex-detective slowly turns around to face where the team's desks are. Kensi's desk is a mess, Sam's desk area is Navy SEAL pristine, and Callen's…..well, Callen's desk has been cleared out. It shouldn't be as the last time Deeks checked, Callen was only suspended.

_I need to talk with Callen- he should be out of jail by now, _Deeks thinks. He walks past the team's desks without stopping at his own. In his mind, Granger won't notice if he doesn't do it right away.


	6. Chapter 6

Deeks arrives at Callen's house within an hour.

He walks up to the front door and knocks quickly, keeping a hand by the door and the other by his back. It takes the man a minute to realize that he doesn't have a weapon with him- his spare is under his pillow in his apartment. Mid worry about his weapon, the door opens and instead of the 5'10" blue eyed agent, Deeks fines himself face-to-face…not so literally, with Hetty.

"Whoa, what are you doing here?" Deeks exclaims. Hetty raises an eyebrow at him and asks, "The same for you, Mr. Deeks. You haven't heard from him?"

"No, we haven't really had the time- wait, why are you here?" Deeks asks. He remembers the boxes that are stacked up near Hetty's stairwell. Last time he checked, Hetty was supposed to be on a boat half way across the Atlantic.

"I plan on going on my boat as soon as I know that my agents are ok," Hetty answers. She turns and walks back into the living room, which is completely empty. Deeks follows her, trying to remember if Callen had anything in his house to begin with. Hetty carefully watches him before asking, "You've quit LAPD, I assume?"

"Seriously, how do you-"Deeks catches himself and quickly composes himself. He starts back up after a minute, "Yes, I did and about my application folder turned in, I'm scared as hell. Granger tossed his aside as if it were trash!"

Hetty looks away for a moment before saying, "I'll see what I can do, Mr. Deeks. Granger is frustrated and being an ass right now. Since you aren't with Kensi and Sam right now-"

"Crap!" Deeks exclaims- it's the second time he's disappeared on them in one day. Hetty smiles and points to the phone that's sticking out of his pocket. "Call them. I'm sure they're pretty worried about you."

Deeks complies and quickly dials Kensi's number. His partner answers on the first ring. "Deeks, are you ok?"

"Wow, Kens. You sound really, really calm- it's kind of freaking me out a bit."

Kensi inhales deeply. "I'm just worried about you, Deeks. It's been one hell of a day. Oh, Detective Rueben, who you should have punched right in the nose, is our new work buddy."

"I'm so sorry, Kens. I probably should have waited for a later time-"

Kensi cuts him off, her voice now tense. "Don't be sorry, Deeks. I'm just glad you did it. Oh, Hanley's coming back. Call you later?"

"Yeah. Bye." Deeks hangs up and pockets his cell phone. He's so relieved at how well the conversation went that he forgets that Hetty is standing next to him.

"Mr. Deeks?"

Deeks blinks and looks down at Hetty. "Sorry, Hetty. That was Kens….what were we talking about?"

"I think Mr. Callen isn't handling the aftermath of the shooting very well. Not only is there a high chance that he may be fired-"

Deeks scratches his head. "Speaking of, I saw that his stuff was packed up at OPS. Did he quit?"

"No, that could be Granger trying to speed up the process. Since you're free, I'd like you to check Manhattan Beach for him, not only on his well-being, but I believe that the Iranians will want an answer on why Atley is alive and the Chameleon is dead." Hetty pulls a SIG P229 from her purse. Deeks is confused, more so because he was positive that Hetty's purse isn't big enough to carry a gun.

"Take the gun," Hetty says, "Things could get dangerous and you might as well start using it now."

"But I'm not in-"

"I said that I wasn't leaving until _all_ my agents are ok," Hetty reminds him. She smiles before leaving the house. Deeks looks down to the gun in his hand and mutters, "Ok, then."

**Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles**

Deeks pulls up to the parking lot at Manhattan Beach. The clouds and light drizzle has cleared out the beach, leaving only a few surfers wading in the water. Deeks walks onto the wet sand and wishes that he had his surf board. It's been a few days since he's been out on the water because of the hellish last few days. _Focus-_ _I'm here on business_, Deeks tells himself.

Deeks stops in his tracks, puts his hands on his hips, and scans the beach. His mind quickly travels over to the Sig that's hidden under his shirt. He gets the idea to adjust the gun, but in the nick of time, he spots Callen. The lead agent is sitting next to his silver and blue surf board that's sticking up from the sand. To Deeks, he looks unbelievable angry and broken, an understandable feeling after the last few days.

Deeks waves his hand above his head to grab Callen's attention. The lead agent stares back for a second before nodding his head in disbelief and turning away. Deeks growls in annoyance and breaks off into a jog towards Callen. He doesn't make it very far before all hell breaks loose.

Again.

Little under one hundred feet from where Callen is standing, a silver Ford Explorer explodes. Callen is thrown backwards into the air before landing on the sand. Bystanders scatter in a million different directions as pieces of metal fly through the air. Deeks only reacts for a second before running towards where Callen is laying. The ex-detective finds Callen lying next to his surfboard. The agent appears to only be unconscious.

Deeks kneels next to Callen and pulls out the SIG from his belt. The gun is a little heavier than his Berretta. Deeks ignores the added weight and scans the area for anyone who could be waiting around to make sure the job was done.

_I guess Hetty was right. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Manhattan Beach**

At this point in time, Deeks has two big problems.

The first one is that he was caught not even five minutes ago aiming a SIG P229 that isn't necessarily registered to him out in public. If he was still with NCIS, there would be no problem, but because he's a civilian and has pissed off so many of LAPD's finest, Deeks is almost positive that someone will try and pin a weapon charge on him, just for the hell of it. If the charge stands after the millions of appeals that the ex-detective would fight through, running around with a weapon that isn't yours is a huge blow to the NCIS application process.

His second problem is that since an attack was done either to kill or spook Callen, there's a chance that many more will come directed at him and the rest of the team. Again, if he was in NCIS he'd be able to have Eric track down who, what, where, when, and how with some ease. Now as he sits next to an unconscious Callen and dials 911, Deeks can only pray that there aren't any further attacks coming within the next few minutes.

After explaining Callen's condition to EMS, Deeks ends the call and dials Kensi's number.

"Deeks, where are you?" Kensi exclaims when she answers.

"I'm with Callen- wait, how do you know what happened?" Deeks panics while watching crowds grow around the blast area. Beside him, Callen quickly regains consciousness and looks over at Deeks at the sound of his name.

"LAPD put out a call about an explosion and a shaggy haired male pulling out a weapon on the beach. Sound familiar?"

"Damn, that was quick," Deeks remarks.

"Deeks, you need to get off the beach! Is Callen conscious?"

Deeks helps Callen into a sitting position and answers, "Yeah, he's up. Why do we- you think this is related to the Chameleon's death?"

"Yes. Get him on his feet and get going to Naya's Café. I'll pick you both up from there." Kensi hangs up before Deeks can say anything else.

Deeks swallows hard and whispers, "We have to go, G."

As Callen struggles to get on his feet, Deeks turns towards the remains of the Explorer and snaps five quick shots with his Samsung Galaxy phone. The ex-detective pockets his phone and pulls Callen in the direction of the pier, pushing past any bystander they come across.

Once on the pier, both men start jogging towards California Avenue, where Naya's Café is located. They cross Bay Road quickly and disappear into a crowd just as four LAPD vehicles pull up to the beach. Deeks and Callen make it to the café just as Kensi pulls up in her SUV. Deeks jumps into the front seat and jokes, "It's about time you showed up, Fern."

Kensi smirks at his comment and looks through the rear view mirror to see Callen climb into the back seat. She isn't sure if asking about his welfare is going to do anyone any good.

"So the co-operation between NCIS and LAPD is failing," Kensi says, "Both have been working together for only a few hours and already one side is accusing the other of corruption. A lot of cops are gunning for you, Deeks, because of you possibly getting into NCIS. I'm just glad you finally left- in my opinion, you stopped being LAPD the moment you started working with us-"

"The Chameleon," Callen suddenly says from the backseat. The lead agent is leaning back with his eyes close as he's trying to ignore the ringing in his ears.

"Right. The explosion was probably an attempt to spook you or send a warning-"

"We need to find Hetty," Callen cuts her off. "Go to Dekker's Pier in Santa Monica. That's where her boat is." Kensi nods in agreement without saying a word. Deeks grabs a quick glance at Callen before pulling out his cell phone and dialing Sam's number to alert him about Dekker's Pier.

**Dekker's Pier- Santa Monica**

Deeks is dreaming of the perfect wave when he is jolted awake by a tug on his arm. It's more of a yank, which Deeks quickly finds it to come from Sam. The-detective had drifted off to sleep during the short trip to Santa Monica.

The muscular SEAL calls out, "Deeks get up!"

Deeks sits up, completely alert. Kensi and Callen are standing next to Sam, both holding on to their weapons. Deeks jumps out the front seat and pulls out the SIG, much to Sam, Callen, and Kensi's surprise.

"Hetty gave it to me," Deeks explains, "Why do we have our guns drawn?"

"On the way over, we tried calling Hetty about six or seven times and she didn't pick up. Something's wrong," Sam states. Without a warning, Callen starts jogging towards the dock where Hetty's boat is docked. Deeks, Kensi, and Sam quickly follow and catch up with Callen when the lead agent suddenly stops in his tracks a few yards away from the boat. In red paint, العين بالعين is painted in large letters across the side of the boat. Deeks looks over to Sam and asks, "What does it mean?"

"An eye for an eye," Sam exclaims, "We need to find Hetty!"


	8. Chapter 8

Before a game plan is made to find Hetty, LAPD arrives at the pier.

Deeks is beyond amazed at how they fast they arrived on the scene, considering that no one on the team had alerted LAPD nor Granger of where they had gone to. He quickly remembers that Nell and Eric are at the Ops center and could have possibly tracked them down under duress. As two police cars quickly halt to a stop with their sirens blaring, Deeks begins to wonder if LAPD is here to help find Hetty or arrest the team.

Detective Rueben emerges from one of the police cars and leads a pack of three LAPD officers over to the boat. Deeks, who is standing the closest to the water, mentally prepares himself for a fight with Rueben.

"Well, well, well…look who've we just found," Rueben says in a sarcastic tone, "NCIS' dream team."

Kensi puts a hand on Sam's shoulder to help calm the increasingly angry SEAL. Deeks balls his hands into fists and wishes that Kensi was standing next to him, making sure _he _ didn't do anything stupid. Callen, who's never met Rueben, stares the detective down with a look that's a mix of anger and confusion.

Rueben walks up to Callen and says, "Before I arrest Deeks here for brandishing a gun that according to records isn't his, I'd like to introduce myself to the famed agent who shot _the Chameleon_ out in public. I'm Detective Rueben, the man that most likely is going to replace you."

"Granger told you that?!" Sam exclaims. Kensi removes her hand from Sam's shoulders and is now glaring darkly at Rueben with crossed arms.

"Not directly, but I have a feeling that he's going to want to fix this ragtag team of Miss Beauty with little brains, Muscles and Trigger Finger. Deeks, what happens with you- I couldn't give a damn about. I can already imagine you sitting on a LA corner street with a bottle of liquor-"

Rueben is silenced by Sam, who slams his fist against the man's face. Rueben staggers backwards, seeing stars. Two officers react by putting a hand towards their holsters seconds before Kensi, Callen, and Deeks draw their own weapons. The only thing that stops the two groups from firing on each other is a red headed female cop, who stands between the two groups.

"Let's…let's not do anything that we'll regret," she stammers, "We're here to do our jobs, just like you. Everyone please put your guns down."

Sam growls in annoyance and lowers his weapon. Rueben lowers his weapon and hears his cell phone ring from his pocket. The detective scowls, turns on his heel, and walks away while answering his cell phone. Callen, Deeks, and Kensi and the three officers reluctantly lower their weapons.

"We don't have time for this- we have to go," Callen growls to Sam. In his mind, the team should have been halfway to one of Hetty's many homes. Deeks doesn't respond to the agent's statement because he's too focused on Rueben's conversation on the phone. Deeks' suspicion skyrockets when Rueben glances over to him, nods, and hangs up the phone.

Rueben walks over to the group and says, "You're going for a ride, Deeks. Granger wants to see you."

Deeks sighs. _Great. That's just great._

**Boatshed**

Deeks sits at the table in the interrogation room, drumming his fingers against the table. It's been five minutes since Rueben had dragged him to the boatshed to see Granger. Sam, Kensi, and a very quiet Callen had followed them to the boatshed and were now all sitting in the hallway, anxiously waiting for Granger.

_There's no way that we can use the boatshed anymore, _Deeks thinks at the sound of Rueben chatting on the phone from the main room. There are two police cars parked outside, pretty much eliminating all the secrecy that had once surrounded the place.

Deeks begins to tap his hands on the table out of boredom while humming the tune of _Footloose_. He becomes so engrossed in his doings that he forgets that there's a camera showing his every move to Rueben.

"Deeks?"

Kensi calls his name from the hallway. There's worry in her voice, which makes Deeks stop and look over to the doorway.

"What are you doing?" Kensi calls out. Deeks can only assume that she's the closest to the door.

"I'm bored!" Deeks exclaims. "What the hell does Granger want?"

The door suddenly opens and Granger steps into the room. Deeks can see Kensi on her knees next to Sam, who's sitting with a hand on a knee. Callen is also sitting with a hand on his knee, but is glaring to the left, where Deeks can assume Rueben is standing. Kensi opens her mouth to say something, but doesn't get the chance as Granger shuts the door shut. Granger places Deeks' Sig P229 on the table and sits down.

"We need to talk," Granger states. "Who gave you the weapon?"

"Hetty did. Why am I here? We should be out looking for Hetty!" Deeks exclaims. Granger barely flinches at Deeks' tone.

"NCIS is looking for Miss Lange. You on the other hand are a civilian and have no law enforcement authority. Why did Hetty give you a weapon?" Granger asks. Deeks is taken back by Granger's question. He had expected that it was an obvious answer, especially with the haunting message on the side of the boat.

"Protection- she must have had one of her Hetty inklings about the aftermath of shooting the Chameleon. People, and when I say people, I mean the Iranians, are pissed that the Chameleon is dead and when people get pissed, people tend to get a little trigger happy. Are you going to charge me with anything?"

Granger says nothing and pulls the magazine out of the gun. He observes the full magazine and asks, "You didn't fire one shot. Why did you draw your weapon and then run with Agent Callen from the beach?"

Deeks states, "Initially, I thought that the explosion was an attempt to kill Callen so I had called EMS and scanned the area to make sure that the perimeter was clear. A few minutes later, Kensi told me to get the hell out of there, which we did."

"Ok, then," Granger pushes the magazine and gun towards Deeks. "You are a _civilian_, Deeks. You don't have the right to investigate any crimes, regardless of it being personal or not. However, I also know that this team has a habit of defying orders when things become personal."

Deeks feels like his heart is about to explode. "So….what are you saying?"

"I'm allowing you and Agent Callen to help find Henrietta," Granger states, "Don't make me regret this."


	9. Chapter 9

Deeks' eyes flickers between the door and Granger before he asks, "So can I go?"

"Not just yet," Granger grumbles before walking over to the door. He opens it to see Kensi jump back from the doorway and Sam snigger at her reaction. Granger waves the three agents in and returns to his seat across from Deeks. Kensi quickly walks in and stands behind Deeks with her hands on her hips. Sam enters the room second, walking over to a spot in front of the interrogation room window. Callen enters last and shoots Granger a dark glare before leaning against the doorframe.

"As I just told Deeks, I'm giving him and Agent Callen permission to help find Henrietta," Ganger states, "This is going against the rules, but getting LAPD up to speed on the Chameleon case and Iranians would take too much time."

Deeks smirks at this statement; he really wants to laugh at the fact that it took Granger this long to realize that a LAPD- NCIS cooperation is easier said than done.

Granger continues, "So because of this, I want to be informed on every move this team makes. We're under the microscope, remember, so no screw ups."

"Got it," Sam replies from his spot at the window, "Anything else?"

Granger nods his head. " Yes- good luck. Don't make me regret this." The assistant director walks out of the interrogation room leaving the team alone. Deeks sticks the Sig into his waistband before looking over to Sam.

"What exactly did Granger talk to you about?" Sam asks suspiciously.

Deeks shrugs and replies, " The usual-_oh my, what were you doing, why did you do it, I don't want to see you do it again, but since you'll do it anyway, go ahead_. So now what?"

"We need to look at every property that Hetty owns and see if she's hiding there," Callen says. It's the first thing Deeks has heard him since the near shootout between LAPD and NCIS almost an hour earlier. "Sam and I can check two places in Santa Monica while Kensi and Deeks will check the Burbank apartment."

Deeks opens his mouth to comment on how interesting it is to him that Callen knows where Hetty lives and he doesn't, but Kensi pulls him away from the group, warning the ex-detective, " Don't say anything that's going to get you in trouble."

"But I wasn't going to say anything!"

Kensi smirks as she drags the ex-detective towards the door. "Of course not."

**Burbank**

"So that's it?" Deeks asks as the silver SUV pulled up in front of a ten story apartment building. Kensi pulls the SUV into park and looks over at her partner.

"Yeah. What did you expect?"

Deeks takes a moment to ponder on how many other homes their ex-OPS manager has before Kensi punches him hard in the arm. Deeks rubs it and yells, "Seriously, I wasn't thinking of anything bad!"

"Oh, yes. Because you never do," Kensi snorts. She steps out of the SUV and looks over to the doorway where a doorman is standing watch. Deeks walks around to her side and comments, " So Hetty's secret Burbank home is guarded by a doorman with a funky mustache. How do you want to play this?"

"Follow along," Kensi replies before she walks off to the front door. Deeks grins and scratches his hair before following his partner to the door. Kensi pulls out her badge and holds up to the doorman's face.

"I'm Junior Special Agent Kensi Blye," she states. Deeks raises an eyebrow at Kensi using her full title, but then immediately learns why.

"And this is Probationary Special Agent Marty Deeks. We need to gain access to a person of interest's apartment," Kensi finishes. The doorman takes Kensi's badge in hand and then looks over to Deeks, expecting to see a badge. Deeks hesitates before saying, " It's my first day. There's some technical issues going on with our system which is why I don't have a badge yet."

The doorman buys it. He steps aside and gives Deeks and Kensi a tip of his hat. The partners step into the apartment building and head towards the elevator.

"That was very 1920s of him," Deeks states once they're out of earshot of the front door, "Why did you lie?"

Kensi shrugs. "I didn't lie. I just stretched the truth a little."

"More like a lot." Deeks pushes the 10th floor button and the elevator doors open. Both step inside the elevator and watch the door close.

"There's no way Granger would let you investigate if you weren't on the prospects of being accepted. You've already served two years as an NCIS operative already- the only thing that's difference between Callen, Sam, and I versus you is the badge," Kensi states.

"I dunno, Kensi. He did say that he wanted to avoid the team going rouge."

Kensi grins at the memory of the many times that the team has gone against orders. " Gee, I wonder where he would get such a silly idea."

The ex-detective nods in agreement as the elevator comes to a stop on the 10th floor. He's ready to step off with Kensi when they hear the cock of a gun through the elevator doors. Kensi and Deeks pull out their weapons and slide against the side walls before a _ding _echoes and the doors open. Deeks holds his breath to hear silence coming from the hallway. He concludes that whoever owns the gun is waiting for them to make a move.

Across from Deeks, Kensi is standing inches away from the elevator buttons. She slowly slides her finger over to the buttons and touches the first one she feels. The elevator _dings _again, signaling that its doors are about to close. When the doors finally begin to close, the mystery shooter fires twice into the elevator car before the door shut. The first bullet hits the back wall and ricochets onto the ground.

And because Deeks is having _such _a wonderful day as a civilian,

the second bullet pierces the ex-detective in the leg.


	10. Chapter 10

"Owww! Oh come on!" Deeks yells at the top of his lungs before falling to the ground. Kensi turns to her partner and finds him gripping his leg. Kensi places her gun on the ground and pulls off her jacket. Deeks lays his head onto the elevator floor and growls, "Why me?"

"You're ok. It's not…. too bad," Kensi tells him as she wraps her jacket into a bunch and pushes it hard against Deeks' wound.

Deeks raises his head and shoots his partner a homicidal glare. "Not too bad?! I'm sorry- would you like to trade spots? Tag team?"

Kensi takes her jacket off his leg and peers into the wound. "No, I'm good. It's a through-and-through…..a 357 was probably used."

Deeks lets out a groan. "Why? Why today?"

"Come on, stand up," Kensi directs Deeks. She grabs his arm and pulls him into a sitting position and then onto his good leg. She's kept in mind that in about 10 seconds, the elevator cart will reach the lobby floor and reveal to the public a bloody crime scene.

"Deeks, something to keep in mind when the doors open-"Kensi tries to warn her moaning partner. Her partner gives her the _don't you know that I already know this_ look that shuts her up. Finally, the doors open to the lobby and Deeks and Kensi look up to see a crowd of Filipino tourists staring wide eyed back at them. Deeks glances down to his bloody leg and over to the blood splatter on the elevator cart floor. He pauses to think of what to say for a minute and then states, "Nothing to see here, folks."

"That's the best you got?" Kensi asks through gritted teeth.

Deeks turns his head and whispers to Kensi, "Oh, I'm sorry. Should I say that there's a homicidal shooter upstairs?"

"It'd be better than overstating the obvious," Kensi whispers as one of the tourists snaps a picture of the cart with his camera. Deeks rolls his eyes and waves his hand at the doorman, who's staring at them, mainly Deeks' leg, with a dropped jaw.

"Call the cops and make sure that no one gets in this elevator," Deeks tells the doorman as he and Kensi limp by. Outside, Kensi dials Callen with one hand while helping her partner with the other. While waiting for Callen to answer, both quickly get into the SUV.

"Callen," the lead agent finally answers his phone. Kensi pulls the SUV onto the road and starts barreling down towards the hospital six blocks away.

"Callen, we got a problem," Kensi says. Next to her, Deeks is in the passenger seat, feeling slightly dizzy. It's only been five minutes since he was shot, but he feels like he's going to pass out and doesn't know why.

"What happened?" Callen asks worriedly. Kensi can barely hear him over the noise of a truck on the other end of the line.

"We tried to get into Hetty's apartment here, but there was a shooter waiting for us on the floor. Deeks was shot," Kensi replies, stealing a quick glance over to her partner. Deeks is leaning his head against the glass of the window while pressing hard against his wound.

"Where are you?" Callen asks. Kensi quickly swerves between traffic, barely hitting a dark blue Ford truck. Deeks begins to wonder if the dizziness is from his injury or from the fact that Kensi is driving like a madman.

"We're about to reach General West. I'll call you when I get Deeks admitted," Kensi states before hanging up and dropping her phone onto her lap. She speeds across the intersection in front of the hospital and pulls up into the emergency parking. Deeks watches Kensi run around the front of the car to his side.

"Now I know why Callen gets carsick," Deeks mutters. He doesn't realize that his partner can hear him through the slightly cracked open window.

"Do you want to walk yourself in?" Kensi asks with two hands on her hips. Deeks opens the passenger door and slides his good foot out. In an act of using humor to cover up his pain, Deeks gives Kensi puppy eyes and extends his arms out towards her. It works as Kensi helps the ex-detective stand.

"Baby," Kensi jokes as she helps him limp towards the ER doors.

"No, I think the better term is brave soul who almost died," Deeks corrects her. They enter the ER and don't have to wait a minute as a nurse spots Deeks' bloody leg.

"Listen, Fern," I'll be alright. Just make sure-"

"That someone heads back to that apartment," Kensi finishes for him. "I'm not leaving you so it'll have to be Sam and Callen."

A nurse pulls up a wheelchair for Deeks to sit in. He lowers himself into it slowly and says, "Good. That's good…."

"Hey," Kensi leans forward so that she's at eyelevel with Deeks, "I know that you'll be fine, but if you die on me, I swear to God that I'll drag your behind back from the dead so that I can kick it. Hard."

"Promise?" Deeks smiles brightly at Kensi before he's wheeled away.


	11. Chapter 11

In the four hours after being shot, Deeks is taken into surgery in record time.

He's taken to a private room on the fourth floor where he quickly awakes from the anesthesia. Deeks doesn't remember much of anything after walking into the hospital- all he remembers is the faint sound of classical music and the smell of antiseptic. In his room, the television is softly playing music from the musical Rent. Kensi is curled up in a ball on a make-shift bed of two chairs being pushed together.

"Kens?" Deeks croaks out in a raspy voice. His partner sits up a little too quickly, hinting that she may not have been asleep in the first place. Kensi stands and walks up to the side of the bed.

"Hey, how do you feel?" Kensi asks. Her voice is filled with worry, a big change from when they were in elevator hours earlier.

"Groggy." Deeks looks down to his leg- it's bandaged around his mid quad where he was shot. The first thing he does at the sight of his leg is wiggle his toes and roll his ankle. " I can feel and move everything fine. There's hope for recovery?"

"Yes, the doctor said that you were lucky that the bullet didn't hit any bones or nerves. The soon to be Special Agent Deeks will be up and dodging explosions in one to two months' time. You were lucky, partner." Kensi inhales deeply before admitting, "You had me worried like hell, Deeks."

"Me?" Deeks smirks, "What happened to me whining like a baby?"

"Don't be an idiot," Kensi tells Deeks playfully. She pulls up a chair and plops down next to her partner.

"What'd I miss?" Deeks asks while he turns his head over to Kensi. The morphine for his leg is making him a little goofy, but not enough to hinder a conversation.

"Well, LAPD claimed dibbs on the apartment we went to even though it was you and I who got shot at," Kensi says, " Granger, being the ass that he is, gave it to them. So we have no investigative…anything at the apartment and Callen and Sam came up empty at both of Hetty's home in Santa Monica." When Deeks doesn't respond, Kensi peers over at her partner to see that he's not 100% with her.

Kensi smiles brightly at Deeks."Aww, you falling asleep on me?"

Deeks sticks out his tongue as his eyes droop close. The ex-detective makes a mental note to ask about whatever drug he's been giving before he drifts off to sleep.

* * *

"Wake him up, Kens. We're leaving."

Deeks recognizes the voice to be Callen's, a very panicked Callen at that. Deeks opens his eyes to see the lead agent standing with Kensi at the foot of the bed. Sam is talking with a nurse at the other end of the room who's giving the ex-SEAL a pair of crutches and a first aid kit. The frenzy of the room is not something that a person wants to wake up to, especially while dealing with a missing ex-OPS manager and a group of angry Iranians running around Los Angeles.

"Hetty?" Deeks nervously asks. He braces himself to hear that something terrible has happened to their beloved leader. Instead, Callen states, " No, it's not Hetty, It's -"

"Granger?"

Sam, Kensi, and Callen all stare at Deeks in confusion. The still drowsy ex-detective shrugs his shoulders and mumbles, " Sorry. I don't make sense- continue."

"There are four men outside that I recognize from when I arrested the Chameleon. Three of them are definitely Iranian and one I think is French," Callen says. He walks around to the side of the bed and helps Deeks sit up. " I have a feeling that they're here for me or whoever's close to me that they can get their hands on. We don't know what we're dealing with here so we're leaving."

Kensi hands Deeks a shirt before asking Callen, "You think they followed us from the apartment?"

"They might have, but until we get a look at surveillance, we'll never know."

In the corner of his eye, Deeks can see Sam pulling out a pair of sweatpants from a black bag. The ex-SEAL tosses it over to Kensi, who then helps Deeks into them. In the meanwhile, Callen cracks the room door open and says, " Here's what we're going to do- Kensi and Deeks, take the front entrance while Sam and I take a side entrance. We'll meet up at OPS in twenty minutes."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Deeks exclaims which silences the room. Everything is moving so fast for that he feels like he's going to vomit. 48 hours ago, life was as normal as it could get in their line of work. Now, too many things are moving in motion at the same time. Deeks isn't sure if it's a post-surgery nausea, an after effect on driving with a crazed Kensi, or the fact that his head feels like it's going to explode for being overloaded- all he wants is thirty seconds to just breathe.

_I'm good. Yes, everything's going to hell, but we'll get through it. Just relax,_ Deeks tells himself before opening his eyes and saying, "I'm good. Let's go."


	12. Chapter 12

With their injured team member up on his feet, the team sets their exiting plan into action.

Deeks steps out of the hospital room first. He glances around the hallway as casually as one can before starting the long hobble down to the elevator at the end of the hallway. He continuously glances left and right as he walks, eyeing every individual that passes him. In the back of his mind is the description that Callen had given Kensi and him of the men outside- tall, fair skin, all four wearing dark aviators and brown jackets.

_So far, so good. _Deeks stops at the elevator and hits the down button with his hand. He sighs loudly in relief as no one has come over to him asking questions or God forbid- shoot him again. Deeks knows that his partner is also in the clear as she soon follows him over to the elevator. When the elevator arrives, both step in just as Callen and Sam leave the hospital room and head the opposite way to the stairwell.

Just before the elevator doors close to head down, a small Iranian teenager darts into the elevator. She stands next to Deeks as the elevator doors close and they head down to the main floor. The teenager puts her hands on her knees before letting out the loudest sneeze Deeks has ever heard. It shakes the girl's entire body to where she accidently falls onto Deeks.

"Sorry," the girl apologizes.

"That's ok," Deeks says with a smile, "Bless you, by the way. Do-"

The doors open and the girl doesn't wait a second before she sprints out of the elevator and out of sight. Kensi steps out of the elevator cart first, scanning the floor quickly for any sign of the four men. She then begins to walk towards the front entrance, which Deeks takes as the coast being clear. The ex-detective and the agent walk out of the hospital so easily that Deeks is hesitant to leave.

"There's got to be a catch," he says to Kensi, who's unlocking the back door to the SUV. She helps onto the backseat where he scoots to the other side. Before Kensi replies to his comment, Deeks takes note of the passenger seat. It's still covered in wet blood from earlier.

"Would you rather have been shot at walking out of hospital?" Kensi finally says when she slides into the front seat.

"No, but I feel like the SUV's going to explode or a shootout's going to happen or-"

"Because you're panicking, that's why."

"Well, sorry for being a little jumpy," Deeks replies, slightly irritated. He places his hands on his jean pocket and realizes that there's something in his pocket that shouldn't be.

"Whoa, what's this?" Deeks pulls out a small black USB from his pocket. Wrapped around the flash drive is tape with the words _**Watch me**_ written on it.

Kensi turns in her seat, putting an elbow against her seat to help her turn. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't have this in my pocket earlier," Deeks says, eyeing the USB carefully. His mind suddenly flashes back to the interaction in the elevator. "Hold on….maybe the girl from the elevator put it in my pocket! I knew her sneeze didn't sound right!"

"Maybe those guys were only here to give us a message and probably used that girl as the messenger," Kensi suggests. "Why would they give it to you instead of Callen?"

No answer.

Kensi sees that Deeks has spaced out on her. His eyes are locked on the USB drive that's between his fingers. "Marty?"

Deeks looks up suddenly as he pulls himself back to reality. "Sorry, Kens…."

Kensi knows exactly what's on her partner's mind. "This isn't like when you were shot two years ago, Deeks. There are probably hundreds of reasons on why you were given the flash drive. You aren't weak."

Deeks snorts as his gaze falls back to the flash drive. "I was shot today and whined about it, Kens. What does that make me?"

Kensi turns back to face the front and grins. "In my mind, it makes you Probationary Special Agent Deeks dealing with a sucky day. Let's get back to OPS."

* * *

The three agents and ex detective walk into the OPS room twenty minutes later. As expected, the drive back from the hospital was completely uneventful. Now that all four have arrived, the team heads up to the operations room, ready to see what's on the USB.

"You ok?" Eric exclaims at the sight of the Deeks. Even though Eric and Nell hadn't left the OPS center all day, both looked just as bad as the agents did.

"I'm good. I'm tired, but I'm good," Deeks replies. He holds out the USB to Eric, "Some girl that might have ties to Iranians gave me this. Can you pull everything that's on it?"

"Of course I can. I'm insulted that you asked," Eric jokes. Deeks smiles, glad that the analyst can still have a sense of humor. Eric takes the USB and plugs it into his computer. Something unusual occurs- seconds after Eric plugs in the USB, a video uplink pops up on the screen. It's coming from a webcam that shows the team Hetty sitting on a chair in what appears to be a dark warehouse.

"Hetty?" Sam gasps. Out of nowhere, a tall Iranian man walks into view of the camera and greets the team, "Hello, Agent Callen…Agent Hanna…..Agent Blye, and Detective Deeks."

At this point, Deeks doesn't bother to correct the man. Next to him, Sam takes a step closer to the screen and growls, "What do you want? Who are you?"

"I am a man who lost a lot of money when Marcel Javier died," the man states, referring to the Chameleon. "I am also a man who wants retribution in the form of seeing the look in Agent G Callen's eyes when he loses someone important to him."

"Leave her out of this," Callen yells angrily. In response, the man turns and aims a pistol at Hetty. The operations manager doesn't even blink. At the OPS center, everyone is holding their breath.

"Say goodbye to Henrietta," the man says. Before anything can happen, Callen suddenly blurts out, "Take me instead."

"What?"

"Take me instead," Callen repeats. "I'm the one that killed the Chameleon. Hetty had nothing to do with it. I'll take her place and you can do whatever you want to me."

"What are you doing, G?" Sam growls at his partner under his breath.

Callen holds up a hand to shut up his partner. "Do we have a deal?"

The man smirks before replying with a grin, "It's a deal."


	13. Chapter 13

Callen's team members don't take kindly to his deal.

Once their mystery video caller had hung up after giving an address to meet at in one hour, an uproar explodes in the operations room.

"Why the hell would you do that, G?" Sam yells directly towards Callen, " Is this some kind of redemption kick for shooting the Chameleon?"

Callen only glares at Sam, which pisses the SEAL off even more. Across the room, Eric is trying to defend himself against Kensi and Nell for commenting that the exchange could work.

"And what if the Iranians just shoot both Hetty and Callen? Then what?" Kensi exclaims. Next to her, Nell is staring down Eric with such a look that it gives the man a cold chill. In the center of the room, Deeks is leaning against the tabletop with forehead on the table. He doesn't agree with Callen's actions, but the arguments are making it hard for the recently injured ex-detective to think straight.

"So getting yourself killed is the big plan?"

"Nell, I- I just said that I agreed with the idea of the plan! I'm not rooting for him to die!"

"What? What did you suggest that I do? He was holding a gun at Hetty for God's sake!"

Suddenly, Deeks has had enough. He slams his hand down on the table top, which makes everyone in the room jump. "Everyone shut up for a second!"

When he's sure that everyone won't turn on him, Deeks continues, " Trying to kill each other isn't going to get us any closer to rescuing Hetty! Right now, we need an operation ready for that meeting and as much as it pains me to say it, we have to bring in Granger to help us!"

"Granger will shut this whole thing down," Callen said angrily.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did," Deeks retorts. He looks between Sam and Kensi and states, "We're bringing in Granger because we need someone to help us control the chaos that is our team right now. Plus, he can assure that we'll all have jobs when this is all over."

Deeks limps over to the door, not hearing a word of protest from the agents or analysts. He quickly wonders if they're coordinating some kind of a jump attack or actually listening to what he has just said. All of his suspicions go out the window when the doors open and Granger's standing in the entryway.

"How much did you hear?" Deeks blurts out unintentionally.

"Every last word. Everyone out except for Deeks!" Granger growls towards the team. Sam and Callen exchange suspicious looks before slowly making their way out of the room. The analysts are gone in seconds and Kensi hangs back to give her partner an empathetic arm squeeze before taking off. When the assistant director and the ex-detective is alone, Granger asks, " What do you think of Agent Callen's plan?"

Deeks hesitates, only because he's positive that an authority figure is supposed to yell when his or her subordinates does something stupid like making a dumb deal with a kidnapper. "I don't think it was the right move…..but I believe that there might be a way to work with it."

Granger crosses his arms, still not showing the anger that Deeks had been expecting from him. "How so?"

_This is getting weird. _"I know the street- actually, the alley that our mystery video caller wants us to meet at. It's isolated, but it has two buildings that'd be great to have a sniper's eye from. Callen could go to the meeting, bullet proof suited-up, and wait for proof that Hetty's alive and present for the exchange. If she isn't there and they still somehow take Callen, we track them down and do a soft raid of the building." When Deeks finishes talking, he's shocked as he had no idea how and that idea formulated in his head.

Granger nods quietly before taking two steps closer to Deeks. The ex-detective raises an eyebrow, repeating in his _This is really getting weird. _

"For a man who whines at any type of physical work, makes jokes at the most idiotic times, and looks like a damn surfer," Granger pauses before a satisfactory smile appears on his face, "You've been handling this entire situation the best out of the entire team."

Deeks struggles to swallow, thinking, _This is the same man who tossed my application file aside like it was nothing, right?_

"As much as it pains me to say this, you're a hell of a cop and damn good asset for this team."

Deeks' eyes widens, hoping that what he hopes to hear comes out of Granger's mouth.

"And you'll make a pretty good agent once we send you to DC and shave off that shaggy hair of yours." Granger extends out a hand and Deeks shakes it, grinning. He doesn't even care that Granger had made a comment against his hair, which the detective plans to fight tooth and nail.

"But there is one thing," Granger adds before turning towards the door, " I can't guarantee that you can stay on this team."

"Why not?"

Granger sighs. "Because of Agent Callen's actions, it's looking more and more like this team will be separated."


	14. Chapter 14

Separation.

The ex- detective struggles to wrap his mind around Granger's statement. He closes his eyes for a second and remembers Granger's scenario for what would happen if the team were to be broken up- Sam off to the SEALs, Kensi to the CIA and Callen to who knows where. Deeks knows that as a future agent, he could be sent anywhere in the world and without Sam's teasing, Callen's jokes, and Kensi's banter, it wouldn't be worth it.

_If it wasn't for that damn shooting….._

Deeks doesn't know if he should blame Callen for their predicament. On one end, he knows that he wouldn't have been pushed to sign the application if things weren't so chaotic. However, the heavy consequences that team may feel makes Deeks a little irritated at the lead agent.

Mid thought, Deeks catches Granger walking for the door.

"Hey!" Deeks calls out, "You're just going to walk away right now?"

Granger stops in his tracks and for the first time in Deeks' recollection, gives the ex- detective a solemn look. "Like I had said on the pier, this is a good team. I know you'll do everything in your power to rescue Henrietta. The best I can do for this team right now is evaluate your past cases and choose what's best for this office."

Deeks shakes his head in disbelief as the assistant director walks out of the doors and out of sight. Eric suddenly peeks his head in through the doors and whispers loudly, "Is it safe to come in yet?"

"Yeah, it's safe," Deeks answers shortly.

"Phew…." Eric waves the rest of the team in and they all return to their usual spots- Nell and Eric by their computers and Kensi, Sam, and Callen all standing behind the table. Deeks nervously glances between the two groups just before Sam asks, "What was that about?"

"Um…. Granger wanted to-"Deeks pauses and contemplates his next words. _Telling the team everything could mess with how they would do on the mission_, Deeks thinks before stating in a loud voice, "Granger wanted to know what our game plan was. I kind of came up with something on the whim and he liked it."

"We need something more than a whim," Sam grunts. Deeks bites his cheek at his annoyance towards the SEAL. He knows that Sam's a friend and respects him as a cop- technically an ex-cop now- but he's tired of the questioning about any major ideas that he comes up with, especially now that he's about to become an agent.

"This isn't just a whim, Sam," Deeks replies. "Callen will go to that meeting so that the Iranians will think that we're actually going through with this. Either you or Kensi- decide amongst yourself- will be locked and loaded in the backseat of the car Callen will drive to act as our firepower while the other will monitor the perimeter. Because I can't move very fast, I'll get a sniper's eye from a position on the roof. When we get proof that Hetty's alive, we make an arrest. Now unless anyone else has a super plan to match mine, we have fifty minutes to get prepped, on the road and set up, so let's get to it. Any questions?"

Surprisingly, Sam, Kensi and Deeks nod in agreement. Deeks nods, pumped and ready for his last mission before becoming a federal agent.

**McLaughlin Ave & Venice BLVD**

Deeks lies on his stomach on the roof of a building that near the alley, also known as the meeting location. He's lying behind a Barrett M82 sniper rifle, a long sleek rifle that's highly efficient. He knows that the Iranians should be arriving within minutes, hopefully with Hetty.

Down in the alley, Callen is sitting on the hood of his Cadillac. Sam is sitting in the backseat of the car, wearing a bullet proof jacket and holding onto his assault rifle. Kensi is across the street in her SUV to keep an eye out for the Iranians.

"Black SUV is slowing down," Kensi suddenly states into her microphone, "It looks like this might be them, guys."

"Alright, look sharp. Everyone good?" Sam mics from his position. Out front, Callen nods, watching the black SUV turn into the alley and park meters away from where Callen is sitting. The lead agent doesn't flinch when the driver and front passenger step out, both donning machine guns. Callen peers over at the backseat window, but only sees black tinted windows.

Back on the roof, Deeks uses the scope on the rifle to check on his partner. He can see Kensi anxiously sitting in her SUV before suddenly stepping out and walking towards a crowd of tourist gathering to watch a street performance. The ex-detective bites his lip in concern when he sees two Iranians that closely match Callen's description from the hospital, follow Kensi.

"Crap," Deeks growls under his breath. He starts to quietly crawl to the corner edge of the roof to get a better eye on Kensi. "Ahh, Kensi. Where are you?"

Suddenly two gunshots ring through the air. Deeks immediately pulls out his Sig and looks over the edge of the roof to see Callen charge at the driver and push him into the hood of the SUV. Sam's out of the Cadillac and yelling, "NCIS!" to the passenger, who's aiming his machine gun back at Sam.

"Kensi!" Deeks yells into his microphone. _The shots didn't come from Callen or Sam, which means….._

"Kensi!"

"Kensi Marie, I swear to God-"

There's a crackle over his mic before he hears, "Or what, Deeks? What are you going to do?"

"Thank you! I don't know whether to kiss you or kick your ass for finally answering!" Deeks exclaims. He sticks his head over the edge of the roof to see Sam and Callen placing zip ties on the driver and the passenger. Deeks doesn't even attempt to figure out how those two took down their assailants that fast.

"Where are you? And what happened to your two stalkers?"

Kensi takes a breath and states calmly, "I had to take them out."

"My little badass-"

"Shut up, Deeks. Any news on Hetty?"

Deeks shakes his head as if Kensi could see it. "No. Callen? Sam? Anything?"

"No, but one of our good friends down here gave us an address where they are holding her," Callen answers over to the microphone, " In the meantime, Kensi will stay where she is until LAPD cleans up and you, Deeks…find a safe way off the roof."

Deeks, being Deeks…..whines, "Wait, how come everyone else gets to do something except for me?"


	15. Chapter 15

"Hey, you're ok."

Deeks smiles when he sees Hetty sitting in a chair next to his bed. After taking thirty minutes to get off the roof, the ex- detective had returned to hospital after tearing out his stitches. He had fallen asleep for a few hours before finding the ex-ops manager sitting next to him, safe and sound.

"Yes, I'm alright, dear. How are you?" Hetty says softly. She's incredibly tired and feels uncomfortable with the gauze bandage around her hand. Even with her experience, Hetty isn't a fan of being injured on a case, especially now that she's much older.

"Where'd you get that?" Deeks asks as if he's reading her mind. Hetty waves his question off with a chuckle. "A minor scratch while I was being held."

Deeks stares blankly at her for a few seconds before commenting, "You don't get captured- I'm pretty sure that you eat Navy SEALs for breakfast! Hetty, _you_ don't get captured. What happened?"

Hetty sighs again. "I was presented with a threat that as a retired ex- ops manager I couldn't ignore or deal with in my usual way."

Deeks chuckles as his mind starts running through ideas of Hetty's _usual ways. _"Do you regret it? Retirement?"

"Not initially, but as long as my agents are out in the world, I need to be in a position to help them. It wasn't the right choice…but that's another thing. Let's focus on you, Mr. Deeks. I have to applaud you for your behavior throughout this entire predicament- Mr. Callen's shooting, your own shooting, rescuing me, and now off to Washington to become a full agent. How do you feel?"

"Out of sorts. I know I've been asleep for a bit- has there been any news on what's going to happen to the team?" Deeks says with a shrug.

"Yes… For six months, Mr. Callen's suspension will stay in place, Mr. Hanna will work overseas for the SEALs, and Miss Blye will stay at the Los Angeles office as a senior agent. And you-"

"Will be in DC for six months. So we are being separated-"

Hetty places a comforting hand on Deeks' shoulder. "Only for a little while, Mr. Deeks. I'll be sure of it."

"So you are coming back….good…" Deeks trails off. He turns his head away for from Hetty for a minute before turning back to her. "Hetty, did I make the right choice leaving LAPD right now? I should have said yes earlier, shouldn't I?"

Hetty gives him one of her trademark mothering smiles. "A smart woman named Cassandra Clare once wrote, '_In the end that was the choice you made, and it doesn't matter how hard it was to make it. It matters that you did.'_ Does that answer your question?"

The ex-detective replies confidently, "Yes, it does." He thinks to how in six months, he'll be Special Agent Marty Deeks with his team in the place he calls home. "I definitely did."

**Los Angeles International Airport- Gate 15C- 6 months later**

Deeks steps into the terminal after arriving from Washington D.C. He's never been so happy to be back in the always warm, always bright city of Los Angeles. The first thing he wants to do outside is kiss the ground that isn't covered in muddy snow as it was when he had left the Capital. In fact, Deeks is so focused on the golden rays shining through the terminal that he doesn't notice reinstated operations manager Henrietta Lange approach him.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she finally says and it snaps Deeks out of his gaze. He grins at the sight of Hetty and says, "I'll take it over snowy D.C anytime. You came to see me come in?"

"Yes and no. Before we get into the details of why I'm here, I must ask- how was training in DC?"

Deeks thinks back to the last six months – saying goodbye to the team, arriving D.C, hours and hours of studying his chosen field of international law, and dating Kensi. Before stepping onto the plane six months ago, Kensi had pulled Deeks over to whisper one sentence that he'd being dying to hear,

_Since you won't be my partner for the six months, I think we should look into our thing._

Dozens of phone calls, Skype sessions, and visits from his girlfriend had made the six month period fly by. Callen's letters and Sam's constant, "Uh-huh," while listening to Deeks ramble about training had also been a great help. Now that training was complete, Probationary Special Agent Marty Deeks was back to work at the Los Angeles field office, as planned.

"It was long and hard, but I made through it," Deeks replies triumphantly.

Hetty nods and adds, "And at the top of your class as well. Of course, I hadn't expected anything less."

"Thanks, Hetty. So where's everyone else? I know Callen is supposed to start up work at the OPS center today and Sam's flying into town today. Where's Kensalina?"

Hetty smirks at Deeks' unusual nickname for his partner. "There's been a body found at the private strip of the airport. Your partner will be meeting you, Mr. Callen, and Mr. Hanna there."

Deeks feels his heart jump a little. The last thing he had heard about Sam was that there was a slight possibility that he wouldn't be able to return to OPS. Getting himself and Callen back was a battle within itself as many other NCIS offices wanted Deeks and very little offices wanted Callen, who Granger was trying to move out of LA.

"Mr. Deeks."

Deeks focuses back on Hetty. It's the first time in six months since someone had kindly snapped him out a space off or a daydream. Two of his trainers spent the whole six month period slapping Deeks on the back of the head to either shut him up or get him to focus. "I'm here," Deeks replies.

"You have a case, remember? You need to go."

"Oh! Yeah, I'm on my way."

**Hanger 4**

"Dead body in an airport," Callen mutters as he walks onto the tarmac in front of the hanger. Behind him, Kensi's blocking her eyes from the bright sun above them. The now senior level agent rolls her eyes at Callen and says, "What else did you expect on your first day back? A warm and fuzzy hug?"

"A little bit. I wanted to ease into things." Callen steps around the broken body that once belonged to their victim, Navy analyst Carlee Hway.

"Sounds like you're getting soft," both agents suddenly hear from behind them. It's Sam, who's dressed in his Navy dress blues. Callen and Sam share a quick bro-hug while Kensi watches.

"Nothing wrong with wanting an easy first day," Callen says, baiting Sam into a playful banter.

As expected, Sam jumps right in. "You had six months of easy. You don't need it anymore."

"Says the man who spent six months watching rookie Marines try not to shoot each other. That's what I consider to be easy, my friend."

"Training future SEALs isn't an easy task- oh no," Sam spots Deeks walking over to the team with his usual goofy smile, "There goes my peace and quiet. Welcome back, agent!"

"Sam, did you miss me?" Deeks greets the ex- SEAL. Sam shakes his head and replies, "Hmmm, unending, relentless chatter? No, I think I was good."

"Oh, don't even try that. You missed me!" Deeks laughs. Sam holds out a hand when he sees the badge on the new agent's waist. "Alright, let me see it."

Deeks flashes his new badge to Callen and Kensi before handing it over to Sam. "New edition. In the light, it sparkles."

"Of course it does, Deeks."

Kensi steps into the two agents' banter and says, "Oh, let him have his fun, Sam."

"You're just saying that because you're sleeping with him," Sam retorts, "Is this going to be a thing? You defending his idiocy?"

"Of course not," Kensi says, partly lying through her teeth.

* * *

Back in the terminal, Hetty watches her agents talk in front of the hanger. She lets them have a few minute to talk because she knows that in their line a work, seeing a dead body everyday can have detrimental effects on a person.

Hetty doesn't worry about whether the team will get to work on this case- she knows Callen, a man of cunning undercover skills and leadership, will soon get the team back on a roll. Sam, the brave, focused SEAL, will get to work, trading hits with Callen here and there. Kensi, clever and unique, will playfully argue with Deeks as they work, no different than from when they were just partners. And the newest agent will crack jokes even though he's focused and analyzing the crime scene in his head.

No, Hetty doesn't doubt her team's function at all. She definitely doesn't regret who she chose for this elite team.

Callen, Sam, Deeks, and Kensi were the right choice.

**The End**


End file.
